Judgment

A. K. SARKAR, J.: The respondent, a schedule bank, sued the appellant in the court of the Civil Judge, Sitapore in Uttar Pradesh, for the recovery of money due under an instrument of mortgage. The appellant contested the suit on several grounds one of which was, that he was entitled to relief under the Uttar Pradesh Zamindar s Debt Reduction Act (U. P. XV of 1953) which reduced the amount recoverable on a debt as defined in it. Now a debt was defined in the Act in these terms:

2(f). " debt" means an advance in cash or in kind and includes any transaction which is in substance a debt but does not include an advance as aforesaid made on or after the first day of July, 1952 or a debt due to -

(i) the Central Government or Government of any State;

(ii) a local authority;

(iii) a schedule bank;

(iv) a co-operative society; and

(v) a waqf trust or endowment for a charitable or religious purpose only.

(vi) a person, where the debt was advanced on his behalf by the Court of Wards to a ward.

As the respondent was a scheduled bank the debt due to it from the appellant was not a debt within this definition and consequently, no relief would appear to be available to the appellant under the Act